This is the place to post all your General Roswell fanfiction. Any Canon fics, which pick up directly from any episode of the show and that focus on Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex or Isabel/Jesse, Kyle/Tess, or all the couples together! Rule of Thumb: If Max healed Liz in the Crashdown in September 1999, then your fic belongs here. If it picks up from the show in any way, it belongs here.

“Nicholas are you freaking kidding me” Isabel muttered as she stormed into her brother’s home the next morning. Beth had taken all three kids shopping to get out of the house because Max didn’t want Beth around for this conversation. So, Grace had lured her mother and sisters out to go shopping but she did want to go and do something she hadn’t been able to do for a few weeks, so it wasn’t much of a hardship. Now, Max was facing the firing squad of his family and their reaction to the possibility their enemy was Nicholas who has returned to create havoc within their clan.

“It is a possibility,” Max allowed.

“Damn Max,” Isabel asked as she thought of how having to deal with Nicholas in the first place as it had been a real horror of a time for her as she had to come to terms with her actions regarding Congresswoman Whittaker. “I thought we were rid of that weasel, back in high school. God, I never wanted to see him again.”

“Me either,” Max sighed as he hated the thought that the bastard was who they had to deal with if they were to get to the bottom of who was after them.

“Why him, why him” Maria muttered as she walked into the living room as she and Michael joined the gathering.

“That he is,” Max muttered as he thought of the little monster who had been part of the torturing squad who had hunted them in junior year of high school all so he could get back to Antar. “But he was one of Khivar’s minions, so he probably is doing whatever he’s doing under his orders?”

“I still don’t get why come after us. It’s not like we’re looking to take back Antar and destroy Khivar,” Isabel muttered although sometimes in her dreams she did have that fantasy, but she liked their life too much to go back and risk everything.

“We just wanted to live our lives” Maria muttered. “So, where is Beth?” she wondered as she looked over at Max.

“Shopping with the kids,” Max said. “I figured she wouldn’t want to hear this kind of conversation.”

“So, she doesn’t run back to Madison today?” Maria asked.

“Partly, but mostly she doesn’t remember Nicholas and right now is not the time to go into a history lesson on our enemies” Max muttered. “It’s good she’s spending time with Grace, and the girls. Maybe they will bond more…”

“She’s still determined to leave, huh?” Michael asked.

“Yup,” Max acknowledged. “She was investigating flights before she left.”

“I am sorry Max,” Isabel sighed. “Maybe she won’t be gone forever this time… Maybe she will see that life here in Roswell is the one she needs, and not on the other side of the country.”

“I am not sure of that Is,” Max sighed because as much as he wanted that to be true, and he did. Yet he knew they were two different people and he wasn’t convinced she would want the life she once had over the life she’s created for herself, and he knew he stood to lose a whole more of his heart this time if she didn’t come back.

“She surprised us by coming back, so maybe she’ll surprise us in the end with what life she chooses to accept?” Maria asked hopeful. She knew life couldn’t be that cruel to take Liz from Max again, so soon after getting her back in his life, right? Right? She mused to herself.

“So, let’s get back to our original topic. “How are we going to figure out why Nicholas is stalking and harassing us?”

“I’ll check with Jim,” Isabel asked helpfully of her father-in-law. “Maybe he can be of help?”

“Yeah maybe,” Michael groaned because he knew this could get complicated as Isabel let herself out of her brother’s home and headed over to her boutique to get to work.

*

“Have you found anything you want to wear for your big date with Jake on Friday?” Beth asked as she, Grace and the twins were at Isabel’s boutique. It was open but of course Isabel wasn’t there yet, but it was being operated by a trusted second in command. They had already been to several other shops, and now were at Splurge.

“Its not a date,” Grace said defensive. “Jake gave me tickets for my birthday, and we’re only going as friends… nothing more.”

“Really?” Beth asked. “It does seem you have gotten pretty close with him since your accident?”

“We’re just friends,” Grace defended. “Yes, we’ve blurred the lines, but the last thing I need right now it to be anymore than it is… friendship. I like him, but I don’t want it to be anything more than what I can handle right now.”
Beth nodded.

“It will be nice to get out and do something normal,” Grace said. “And that is all I am looking for right now because my life hasn’t been normal for a few weeks, and I need something that isn’t complicated.”

“I hope you get that,” Beth asked a few minutes later the door opened, and they saw Isabel pop in as she dashed into the boutique and smiled at all the customers, and especially when she noticed some very familiar faces, and she stopped “Good morning” she smiled at her nieces and Beth. “I am sorry to miss you when you arrived, but I had some errands to do” Isabel lied because she knew her brother was correct that Beth didn’t need to know the latest for the moment. “Are you finding anything?”

“We’re looking for Grace’s big “not a date” with Jake Friday night” Carrie quipped, and Grace only shook her head. Isabel smiled at the embarrassment blush that came to her eldest niece. “You and Jake?”

“It’s only a concert with a friend Aunt Isabel” Grace insisted.

“I never believed it before, and I am not inclined to believe that now” Isabel reminded her eldest niece. “But are you finding anything that is suitable?”

“So many choices” Grace remarked.

“What are you looking at?” Isabel asked of her niece. “What do you feel like?”

“Well, I am in this chair for the near future so it’s not like I should be showing off my legs as they aren’t my best features, or they never were…” Grace smiled. “Maybe pants and a top or something?”

“Well I think you would be surprised by what Jake finds interesting in you,” Isabel commented as she noticed Jake staring at Grace, all aspects of her in the past. “So, don’t count out anything and especially not because you’re in that contraption for the moment.”

“I guess,” Grace murmured.

“I need to check with Elaine to see how everything is running but if you guys need anything… don’t hesitate in finding me” Isabel acknowledged. “I am glad to see all of you here…”

“You’ve got a great place here?” Beth acknowledged.

“Thanks… It’s only been since my youngest was born that I created this place” Isabel blushed. “Before hand I was working out of a boutique in Las Cruces,” she sighed as she thought of all the challenges over the years. “The kids made me want to stay closer to home as the commute is horrendous at times.”

“I know the feeling,” Beth nodded. “I commute for work as we live in Madison, which is a small town about thirty minutes or so from New Haven where I work, so I am constantly on the move between the two places while at the same time a good friend of mine works where we live, and she likes the convenience.”

“How about you?” Isabel asked as she couldn’t imagine having to commute to Las Cruces now that the kids were getting older and a little more independent. “Do you like it?”

“I thought I did,” Beth confessed as Alexandra and Carrie’s ears perked up. “I love the hospital feel, but yet I can’t help but wonder if I am missing out with all the commuting I have to do for my job, and the long hours that are required because of the hospital atmosphere”

“Interesting,” Isabel commented as she left the group and went and found Elaine.

“I thought you liked your job?” Alexandra commented as her mother focused back on the girls, as Isabel left them.

“I do,” Beth said. “I am just commenting on the frustration I sometime feel” she murmured as she knew she had surprised even herself by voicing her thoughts. Until she came to Roswell she always rebuffed Serena’s attempt to seduce her into working in Madison in the practice she had set up, because she had liked the hospital life she had created in New Haven and the loyalty that she felt towards the hospital that had saved her life all the way back when she had crashed, and yet visiting Roswell and seeing the value of small time life and not just spending the hours you’re supposed to be sleeping at home, and the rest of the time at work. It now felt strange, and yet she desired to go back to Madison because she missed her home and missed her job. Her mind was constantly playing with her which is why Beth wanted to end it all and go back to where it is normal, and not feel conflicted by a life she didn’t remember.

The twins nodded and Grace looked at her mother with a strange look but quickly let it vanish as Beth tried to get their moods back on the fashion. “So, find anything Grace?”

“Right,” Grace sighed as she looked back at the racks of clothes.

An hour later they walked out with bag full of clothes for all the girls, and Beth feeling relieved that it had gone well.

*

“Nicholas?” Jim asked as he was meeting with Michael. Max had to get to the office, and Isabel to the boutique so Michael agreed to go to Jim and see if he could follow up on photo and see where it might lead. While he also did his own deep dive into their formal nemesis because it had surprised him to run into the bastard again. As they hadn’t seen him since he vanished in high school at the conclusion of the Alien Summit. So, to know he might be trying to create havoc was his pain.

“This is a blurry picture, as Grace is the one who spotted him and took the picture. She didn’t know who he is, and Max made the ID” Michael murmured as he handed the picture over to the Sheriff. “She was out to see a movie with Alexandra and Carrie, and felt that he was following them and while it didn’t last long… it was long enough to get an image”

“Wasn’t he a fellow alien?” Jim asked as he made sure his door was closed so no one could overhear them.

“It’s hard to describe what he was,” Michael said as he thought of the discovering of Nicholas as he had been forced to live as a skin, in a small town of Copper Summit and his youthful exterior and the need for husks. “He wasn’t the greatest fan of me, nor anyone in our inner circle.”

“He was trying to create havoc I hear” Jim asked.

“Yes, and it worked for a time. But then he disappeared and none of us had heard from him until now, and so I wonder what scheme is operating under except maybe he’s under orders of Khivar?”

“I don’t understand why they don’t leave you guys alone, as it’s not like you’re looking to go back to where you came from and take back the planet, right?” Jim asked. “You all made your life here, and like it that way…”

“I guess it’s about fearing if they leave the possibility, then it could backfire on them. Khivar isn’t the rightful leader, as he only took the throne through a coup, and so he’s worried that we’ will come back and take back that life, but we could care less about it because we like our lives here, so to mess with us or create payback for actions we might have done at one time is pointless.” Michael muttered. “And he might be pissed that we prevented him from taking Isabel back…”

Jim nodded. “I’ll look into it, so I gather you don’t know the name?”

“Just the name we knew him off, as I am going to do my look into it. But given you have more avenues for quicker results” Michael murmured. “He still has the same baby face that he had back in high school as he was poising as a young teenager despite the advance of time.”

“I’ll take a look,” Jim nodded as Michael let himself out of the office.

“Please not more of this crap,” Jim muttered as he got back to work.

*

“You were seen?” came an unknown voice over the speaker phone in a shabby motel room was obviously a step down from the one Beth and the girls had been staying on as the person renting the room didn’t have the income to be able to splurge on even a step up in accommodation. All the planning was coming to a head and then it all had to be at risk by reckless actions that was putting all the careful planning in danger as he had been clearly hoping for a payoff at the end of this thing, but now he had doubts whether he will get the win. “You’re an idiot.”

“You told me to follow Grace Evans,” the man said in an annoyed tone. “I saw my opportunity, so I took it…”

“But she spotted you, genius” came the voice over the speaker phone. “You couldn’t handle one thing, could you?”

“That is unfair because I got the wife out of the motel?” came the man as he tried to defend and pray this had a better outcome than some of the earlier missions.

“You pushed her right into the home of Evans, you idiot” came the voice. “I told you to do something more significant to get her out of our way, or back to Connecticut and you failed even to meet the least of my expectations.”

“Let’s face it. I tried. But to really go after them would have brought too much suspicion from the local authorities after Grace Evans’ recent wave of misfortune. So, I went another way and put a scare into her, and I thought she would leave. I didn’t know Evans would invite her to stay at his house, or that she would accept. So, it’s not my fault.”

“Well then you didn’t do the proper assessment of the situation because anyone could have told you that Evans would have done anything to get closer to his wife. He would also be adamant in wanting to protect her and those children, and even weighing in her lack of memory, well, she wouldn’t have left town that easily. So, how are you going to remedy the situation?”

“Well I got word that she is looking at flights,” the man muttered. “So, I think we should wait to see if she actually is leaving…”

“If she doesn’t leave than you are make sure she does, or make sure she is taken out… or find me an alternative that damn gives me the absolute destruction that I seek. They are to be made to pay for their sins they have committed. Take the damn gloves off if necessary. It doesn’t even have to stop with Evans, make sure everyone’s lives are destroyed, except for Vilondra’s,” he demanded. “Time is running out, because if you want back up here, you have to end them, and bring me what I seek… otherwise you’re just as useless as that whore Tess Handing, trying to pawn off a human baby on me. I am running out of time and need this is happen now.”

“Yes, sir” Nicholas murmured as stared at the phone as he disconnected the system from the phone and turned off the phone and started to make plans as he went over the surveillance pictures of Max, Beth, Grace, Michael, Maria, Jake and Elizabeth. All on his target list according to his boss. He started to access his different options went to work on them as he prayed Beth left town before he enacted any further attempts because he knew his boss wanted to see Evans without those he loved.

Hmm Nicholas smiled as he surveyed his plan of attack. “Maybe this new directive does help me out with my own need for revenge,” as he looked at Michael’s family. “Guerin, I have to say that you are way to happy. We’ll have to see about that, won’t we” he smiled as he mulled a change in the ultimate target… “Although getting Evans would be nice too… maybe I can knock off both at the same time” although he knew Grace was still Plan A?

But who was Plan B?

He cackled with excitement as it started to build as he laid down two of the pictures and wondered how he could use them as the madness built inside him.

Good idea Beth and the girls off shopping. Beth didn't need to know the real danger they face.
Love that Grace was shopping for a "not a date" event......
Glad that Jim will be helping out, because there's nothing Kivar (through Nicholas) won't try.
Can't wait to see the next part.

“Are we on for Friday?” Jake asked as she sat in the living room after he finished with his final class. He was on the way to the shop to have a look at the car and see what he could discover but wanted to spend some time with Grace. He missed her at school, and despite their age difference he found she meant a lot to him and he didn’t care about the senior activities he should be engaging in.

But he knew he had other pressing matters on his mind after his mother came home the previous night and they had sat down and had a long heart to heart and she basically said the decision was up to him, and she would accept whatever he did end up making but he knew she wasn’t happy. And truthfully, he knew it did throw them for a loop because he wanted out of Roswell, and now he was wanting to stay, and knew he had to make a lot of decision before the deadline to respond to either school. But he liked being with Grace and wanted to spend as much time as he could before he did whatever he did with the next school year.

“If you want to?” Jake asked as they played cards. They were alone in the house as Max was at the office, and Beth had taken the twins off on some adventure after dropping off Grace because she was tired of the activity and wanted to get home to do some homework, and Jake surprised her after Beth and the twins had gone off to look at some sights.

“I did,” Grace sighed as she thought of the bags that were in the hall from her shopping trip.

“Did you change your mind?” Jake asked disappointed. “If you did, I understand as you’re going through a lot and maybe we can do it another time.”

“No,” Grace was quick to say. “I do want to go, but I am not sure if a concert is the right thing you know?” she asked. “I am not exactly mobile, and I can’t see how a concert will be the right activity with me in this wheelchair. I am making progress, but not enough, you know”

“Oh,” Jake said. “Still, we can do something another time.”

“I don’t want to not go you know, but maybe if we can find something else to do Friday night. I would love to do something…” Grace tried.

“Like what?” Jake asked, confused.

“I don’t know,” Grace sighed. “I am just not sure a concert is appropriate for where my recovery is right now.”

“I guess,” Jake said disappointed but was trying to see some light in it. “What would you want to do then?”

“There is some kind of musical in the park on Saturday night” Grace asked as she picked up a flyer that she had found out when shopping. It was hanging on the window in her aunt’s store. “At the bandstand” Grace murmured. “If there aren’t seats, I guess we could sit on a blanket or something on the grass.”

“Would you want to go?” Jake asked as he took the flyer from Grace and glanced over it. “Westside Story, right. Elizabeth tried out for it but didn’t get a part” Jake asked as he remembered the school play. Because of space and funding cuts they several years before moved their yearly production to the park after nixing the idea of cancelling the yearly event. Students at the high school got in free and didn’t have to buy tickets. All they had to do was show their school passes. Last year it had been Sound of Music. This year Westside Story.

“It would be easier,” Grace asked.

“And in the park,” Jake noticed of the flyer. “We haven’t had too much luck in the park lately?” he asked. “Would you want to go back there?”

“I have to go back there sometime, and this might be the perfect one. It’s school sanctioned and I might be able to see some friends.”

“I guess,” Jake said.

Grace could see that Jake was underwhelmed at the idea and knew why, because the school musical was normal and the concert would have been special, she just wished her accident had messed things up. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it with you…”

“You would…” Jake asked, warily.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be just friends, if you know what I mean” Grace asked as she took a giant leap and she didn’t know exactly why she was doing it but she was and she seemed relieved and from the expression on Jake’s face, well, he hadn’t expected what she had just asked.

“You mean it?” Jake asked.

“I still want to be careful and take it very slow because I still have too much on my plate but maybe we need to take the leap and see whether there can be anything or whether we’re better off as friends.”

“I can do that,” Jake smiled. “So…” he asked unsure of what he was hearing yet liking it at the same time.”

“A date” Grace asked as she said the fateful words as Jake took her hand in his and touched it. She smiled and looked at the clock on the wall, “I wish we could visit more but I have homework to do…”

“Right,” Jake nodded. “I need to get to work”

“Wait, you’re back at work?” Grace asked surprised. “I thought for sure you were on hiatus due to your leg.”

“Well your accident yesterday made me interested in the shop again, and they gave me some hours to fill in for Phil. I also thought I could look into your car and see if anything comes up” Jake asked.

“We know it was tampered with, so how much more can we know?” Grace asked.

“Who knows,” Jake said. “I just wish we knew why now…”

“Mom’s back,” Grace murmured. “The god’s have awakened and now it’s they want to fix unfinished business they didn’t get right the first time.”

“They won’t win this time…” Jake smiled.

“Let’s hope not,” Grace wondered as she and Jake said their good-byes, and she found herself back in the books and yet still thinking about Jake. Opening herself up to a date with him was going to change things, whether she was ready for it or not and it felt right.

She just hoped it didn’t go badly.

*

Elizabeth was munching on fries at the Crashdown after her final class. She had twenty minutes before she reported to work at the boutique and so she was checking her email and checking her phone when she saw Finn come in. They had missed each other at school all day, and so she hadn’t had a chance to give her answer and really, she wanted to be able to go. With everything going on with her parents and Jake’s bombshell about university; she hadn’t been able to get a firm yes or no from her parents.

“Elizabeth, hello” Finn asked as he saw her sitting at a booth. “Working on schoolwork again?”

“Nope,” Elizabeth shook her head. “Getting a snack before I head to work,” she murmured as Finn smiled.

“You work?” Finn asked.

“Yes, at a boutique in town. Splurge. It’s run by my godmother. She needed some help, and so I am helping out.”

“My mother and sister like that place,” Finn commented. “So, I didn’t see you at school today?”

“Sorry, I guess we just didn’t run into each other” Elizabeth muttered. “Despite what my parents might have thought, I was at school. We do have different classes.”

“Right,” Finn nodded. “So, were you able to run it past your parents last night?” he wondered as the door opened and Elizabeth groaned and paled considerably when she saw her older brother hobbled in on his crutches. “Damn it,” she whispered.

“What?” Finn asked.

“My brother,” Elizabeth noted with a frown as Jake saw them, and he also frowned and started to approach the two younger teenagers. “Sorry about this…”

“Yeah,” Finn nodded as he knew from around school how Jake acted like a big brother towards Elizabeth and was known to rattle the occasional guy’s cage if he thought they were going to treat his sister badly or said something negative about her. So, he didn’t relish having to face Jake since he had to know the senior had to know about their potential date.

“Hey Elizabeth,” Jake asked as he hobbled over to his sister’s booth. “I thought you had to work?”

“I do but stopped in for a snack before work. What are you doing here, I thought you were at Grace’s or at home?”

“I was,” Jake said. “Grace’s but I am doing a few hours at the shop and came in for a bite before I head to work.”

“I thought they gave you time off to recover?” Elizabeth asked.

“They did,” Jake said. “But given what happened yesterday I thought I would go in and look into the car and see if I can learn anything. Also, it gets boring at home and after my collision with Mom last night… well, I thought we needed distance.”

“Interesting choice of words,” Elizabeth cracked.

“What happened?” Finn asked.

“I had a small car collision yesterday” Elizabeth muttered as Jake glared at her and her choice of words. “Okay, maybe not so small.”

“Were you okay?” Finn asked.

“Super, which is why I was at school and now going into work. We didn’t collide with anything serious or at all, but it was too close of a call and it scared my family, and me” Elizabeth murmured. “So, going out this weekend might be something I need” she smiled, and Jake immediately glared. “As long as it’s something simple, and you meet Mom and Dad before hand.”

“I would love that,” Finn smiled.

“Elizabeth, have you run it by Mom and Dad?” Jake asked, warily of his sister. He knew his mother and father had many concerns about his sister as a text just came through Elizabeth’s phone as she looked down and smiled, which made Jake suspicious. “What?”

“Grace just texted me back and said you and she are going out on date this weekend?” Elizabeth cracked. “What on the earth happened to get her off the “no dates” mantra?”

“None of your business,” Jake said miffed that his sister was using it as ammunition.

“It is if you try to sway Mom and Dad off my going out with Finn,” Elizabeth smiled. “Because Mom is almost as worried about you and Grace than she is with me, and my love life” she cracked. “Grace says that you two are off for Friday, but on for Saturday… what gives?”

“She figures her current condition doesn’t make going to a concert the right move, right now. But she wants to go to the school musical on Saturday in the park.”

“Oh right, I forgot about Westside Story, maybe that is because they rejected me for a part” Elizabeth said miffed that she had worked so hard on that audition and with her music aptitude.

“What did you go out for…”

“Maria of course since they were never going to pick me for Anita, but still I thought I had a chance at Maria, but nope they went with Stephanie Hudson.”

“Isn’t Stephanie an accomplished actor already?” Jake asked.

“Are you saying I am chopped liver?” Elizabeth asked hurt. “Of course, Stephanie is good, but she doesn’t strike me as a Maria, but oh well, I am not wishing her ill will so, I wish her a brilliant job.”

Jake only laughed.

“Did you want to go to the show on Saturday?” Finn asked. “I am sure it’s something your parents would approve of.”

“Well played,” Jake murmured at the new game plan.

“How about it?” Finn asked Elizabeth who only laughed as she checked her watched and cursed. “I have to get going. I would love it. Let me run it past my parents, and I am sure they will agree as long as you meet them.”

“Sure,” Finn nodded. “We could do burgers before hand, make it simple.”

“I would love to do it. Call me tonight,” Elizabeth smiled as she got up from the booth. “Jake…”

“Elizabeth,” Jake nodded as he watched as his fifteen-year-old sister rushed out of the Crashdown so to make her shift at the boutique on time. Jake muttered something unheard under his breath as he glared at Finn. “Look Finn.”

“I don’t want to hurt your sister,” Finn muttered as he got up. “I promise I won’t. I like Elizabeth. She is smart and has a wicked sense of humor.”

“I didn’t know you knew her,” Jake asked.

“She’s hard to miss,” Finn said. “I know you probably disapprove, but I am not going to push her into anything, and something tells me I couldn’t even if I tried.”

“My sister is still only fifteen.”

“And I am sixteen,” Finn began. “I know what the rumors tells us around school about you and Grace Evans which apparently is starting to get serious and yet she is barely older than your sister. I am not as old as you are with Grace, so isn’t that a double standard?”

“You have come out of nowhere into our lives, and now you want to date my sister. What Grace and I have is very different and none of your business.”

“I know it is,” Finn said. “I have seen you two around and I know your two families are very close. I like your sister and I want to get to know her if she will let me, or your parents will let me.”

Jake grunted because he knew he couldn’t voice his opinion because Finn was right. Grace might be slightly older than his sister, but he had two years on her, despite her academic record and likelihood of being able to enter university early if she wanted to. Still he didn’t like it and would protect his sister.

“I’ll be watching,” Jake said in shutting down the conversation as he saw his grandmother come out of the back room, and knew she saw him. So, he nodded to Finn and walked over to Amy. Finn only nodded back and walked out of the Crashdown.

“What was that?” Amy asked of her grandson.

“Nothing,” Jake muttered.

“Jacob?” Amy asked sternly.

“Nothing Grandma,” Jake smiled as sweetly as possible. “I have to do a few hours at the shop, and I was wondering if I could pick up my usual order?”

“Do your parents know?”

“Yup,” Jake nodded. “I promise Grandma I am fine, and as you can see, I can get around quite okay and the hours I put in on the shop can only do good for my college fund,” Jake lied, and Amy only shook her head.

“Your mother told me young man what you want to do, or the fact you didn’t tell them,” Amy glared at her grandson. “And let me tell you that I don’t approve of it at all. You might get the approval of your mother, but you don’t have mine.”

“Grandma,” Jake said softly. “I can’t tell you what I want to do because I don’t know. It was only an option that I want to explore…”

“Jake, you have a chance at a great education, and we don’t want you to risk it when you have a chance to go for your dreams. When your mother was your age. I couldn’t give her the financial help to go to university. I may have married Jim, but he was only starting to rebuild his career at the station and your mother had dreams by then for stardom and she decided to go and try to grab it, so we helped her, but we weren’t able to in terms of university.”

“And she ended up with me?” Jake asked as he wondered what his mother’s life would have been destined for if she hadn’t gotten pregnant and come back to Roswell and gotten back together with Michael or was, she always destined for his father? “Which did stop her dreams in the tracks…”

“Your mother loves you and is more than happy with the choices she has made but she didn’t have the ability to go to university unlike her friends. I wish I had that ability to give that to her, but I couldn’t, and she went and found her dreams her way. She and Michael were meant to be together and you and your siblings are what she always wanted for her life, and nothing can dispute she hasn’t earned her success. But she got it, the hard way. She doesn’t want that for you…”

“I know that,” Jake muttered.

“You have a chance at two great universities, and you want to risk it because of Grace…” Amy asked. “When there is a thing called long-distance or if you two do make a go of it, Grace for all we know could be across the country at another university.”

“I know Grandma,” Jake sighed as he hated getting this lecture from his grandmother when she was right but still to hear it come from the disappointed tone of his grandmother was another thing when he always heard the lectures from his mother. So, to hear it from Amy wasn’t something he wanted.

“I love you Jake, but please think twice”

“I promise Grandma I will think of what you said” Jake smiled. “But I really have to get to work.”

“Okay, lecture over” Amy smiled at her grandson and only wished he wouldn’t be reckless at times So like Michael she mused. “I’ll go and get that food for you” she murmured as she went and got the food for her grandson while Jake waited.

*

“Are you kidding me?” Maria asked a few hours later as she sat at Cow Patties meeting Isabel for a drink. The boutique was closed, and Elizabeth was back home doing homework. Maria needed a diversion from her manuscript which was reaching a critical point and fretting over her son’s future and what he stood to throw away, all because he loved a girl.

“She was barely home when I had to leave to meet you, so no, she didn’t tell me nor did Michael, otherwise he would have told me.”

Isabel laughed. “Sorry…”

“God, what am I going to do with those two?” Maria muttered as she thought of her two eldest children and thanked god again that her youngest weren’t at that stage yet. “Why must they do this to me?”

“Because kids like to make their parent’s life a living hell,” Isabel smiled as she knew that she and Kyle were constantly thankful that their own kids’ lives weren’t as stressful or demanding as Grace or Jake and Elizabeth were to their friends which spoke to how it was for them in high school. Max and Michael always were in a higher degree of angst than she and Kyle were… “But love lives I would think is the least of our worries when it could be so much worse that could harm our kids.”

“Very true” as the door opened as in walked Beth.

“You invited her?” Isabel asked.

“Yes,” Maria smiled. “I figured if she’s intent on going back to Connecticut I though she could try to unwind and have a girl’s night.”

“I didn’t think she would have come,” Isabel asked.

“Me either,” Maria sighed as she missed how close she and Liz used to be, and now to see a brand-new woman with her eyes was not easy.

“It’s a weird world we live in that this seems so common,” Isabel murmured.

“Yeah, only in our small world can we think this is not that farfetched or possible,” as Beth nodded as she saw the two women and approached them. “Hey, I am glad you were able to come” Maria smiled.

“Me too,” Beth nodded. “Max was taking the girls out to dinner. To spend some time with them before you know what…”

“You go back?” Isabel asked.

“Yeah,” Beth acknowledged as she took a seat. “What are you drinking?”

“Beer for me,” Maria smiled. “Isabel, white wine.”

“I try to stay away from the hard stuff,” Isabel acknowledged as they looked down at their drinks. “It’s always best…”

“Why?” Beth asked.

“Because things can go sideways when we try the hard stuff,” Isabel smiled. “Max and Michael both have incidents that could be described as unwise although they are known to enjoy a drink or two every so often, right Maria. But usually they stay away. So, I just make a rule to stay to wine or something like that…”

“Right,” Maria smiled as she thought back to one of Michael’s blurry moments which was during a hard time in their relationship.

“Max, really?” Beth asked.

“Yeah,” Isabel nodded. “I wasn’t there. But Maria was witness to the event, and it was a night of out of the ordinary for my brother.”

“What happened?” Beth asked.

“You,” Maria cracked. “Everything that usually meant that Max went sideways could be circled back to you, and this one event was actually a pretty tame one because it was so early in your relationship and heck you weren’t even together at the time.”

“What happened?” Beth asked.

“You went out with another guy, and so he and Kyle decided to bond and get drunk together” Maria cracked, and Beth’s eyes bulged at the description of the night. Isabel burst out laughing. “Yeah, it was quite the evening” Maria smiled as a waitress came, and Beth ordered a vodka because she felt like she would need something strong.

“How old were they?” Beth asked as she listened to the story that Maria laid out of the evening as she liked the atmosphere in the bar. She didn’t go out much when she was in Madison. Because she had the twins when she was younger, and she was always studying or working to make ends meat and therefore she didn’t really have a lot of time to be social. And when she and Serena would go out, they rarely went to a bar.

“You don’t remember them at that age, and for Max; you are right. It was an outlier for him. Something you wouldn’t expect him to do,” Isabel began. “He was too straight lace for that. Kyle on the other hand was a little wilder.

“Really?” Beth asked flashes started to come out of two brunette teenage boys as she stood bewildered on a stage.

“Kyle and his father had a real rough time when he was in high school, and until the end of our Sophomore year of high school. As they were drifting apart, and Kyle tended to lay on the line and act out” Isabel commented. “They will tell you that they saw things differently, or most of the time they were just two guys living in the same house and going their own way. Seeing things in different ways, and not communicating.”

“What happened to change things?”

“Kyle almost died” Isabel commented. “That changed them both, and Jim finally began to see his son for who he is, and Kyle was able to understand his father. They still would have their rough patches, but they came together after Kyle was injured…

“I mean Kyle was shot, and almost died. I am told I was shot and would have died if it wasn’t for Max and now everything with Grace…”

“What can we say, it’s been an unbelievable life…” Isabel sighed as she hated that it did seem so common. “I know you wouldn’t believe us when we say, things were pretty tame. I can’t begin to understand why the ground has opened up and started up everything again but we’re all in it together.”

“Maybe it is time for me to go…” Beth commented.

“I wish you wouldn’t” Maria sighed. “I know how it appears to be confusing to you. Believe me it is, and for Isabel and me, well, it’s old hat. It’s true it was pretty drama free over the years but running is never the answer. It wasn’t years ago, and it isn’t now…”

“It wasn’t…” Beth asked.

“Nope,” Maria sighed. “Both Isabel and I tried running, and it didn’t work then, and it won’t work for you now, today.”

“You both ran?” Beth asked.

Both Maria and Isabel nodded as they both contemplated the past and their actions. “It’s never the answer,” Isabel sighed as she thought of Alex and how losing him had changed so much for her.

“I ran to New York,” Maria sighed.

“I thought you and Michael went together?” Beth asked.

“That was after graduation, but I went once before… when things were more turbulent with our relationship. I had a dream, and I wanted to pursue it. You know me, and maybe you don’t remember but I hate to compromise my dreams and what I think is right unless it’s for a damn good reason and I had to compromise too much of my belief system at that time so I gave up and came back to Roswell and repaired things little by little with Michael and once we graduated and knowing university wasn’t an option, we headed back to New York and tried again… together.”

“How about you?” Beth asked.

“I tried to run after we lost Alex. I was in too much grief to stay because all those regrets of what could have been with the two of us. I know we wouldn’t have worked, and yet he was a friend and to lose him the way we did, well, it hurt and so because I could graduate early, I took it and tried to leave for university far away.”

“You stayed?” Beth asked.

“Yup,” Isabel as she didn’t want to think of the rough time she got in at the time with her brother, and how they nearly severed their relationship over the actions of her brother but that could be traced back to Tess, at least partially… and the guilt and burden Max felt over losing someone they all were friends with in Alex as she briefly winced at the memory. “I eventually I found something with Kyle, and we made it work, and I am forever grateful that I didn’t actually leave, and I stayed. So Beth I know what you’re up against with all this drama you’re discovering and I respect that you need to go back because you do have a life there but if you’re running because of things you know in our little television show that exists within our group than don’t because it’s not the answer. We will find the answers we need together.”

“This is a life I don’t truly remember, and maybe it’s time I go back and realize what I want. I can’t keep this day by day existence going. I need some concrete answers, and my job is in Connecticut and I have a commitment to my patients.”

Beth nodded and stopped short from saying And I think I am going to miss him too she sighed as she took another sip of her drink of Vodka.

*

“Are you telling me you are going out on a date, an official date with Jake?” Max asked in disbelief as he sat at the Crashdown at one of the booths that had the cushion on the back and chairs around the table. He sat against the cushion while Alexandra and Carrie who were looking with amusement as their sister had laid the bombshell on their father as they waited for their orders. When Max offered to take them out for dinner. He was open to anywhere, but Grace had insisted on the Crashdown as she hadn’t been able to stop by recently and she missed seeing her grandparents.

Jeff and Nancy were thrilled when the quartet had come into the restaurant. The patrons all looked with interest when they saw Grace in the wheelchair. She knew they weren’t used to the sight because she had always been running around the establishment taking orders or delivering them. So, to see her in a wheelchair was a sight and then to see Max with two teenage girls; the gossip hounds were fed for the day.

Grace sat in her chair while the twins were in each other chairs.

“Dad,” Grace tried to downplay her announcement as she knew it would be a lot for his father to deal with. “All we’re doing is going to the school musical on Saturday night.”

“But on an official date?” Max asked.

“Yes,” Grace said. “I know Dad what you may think?”

“No, you don’t,” Max tried to smile because he was giving thanks for sitting down when his daughter gave him the news. As much as he knew the day was coming, still it was a shock to know his daughter was starting things with a boy he had seen grow up from a baby. “I love you and I want you happy. That goes for Jake too, and I know I can trust him and trust both of you when you’re together but know that if you need to, you can come to me.”

“Of course, I know that Dad,” Grace smiled. “It’s just a musical.”

“It’s not just Saturday night and you know it,” Max said. “But I trust you to know what is best for you but know you can come to me if you need my help.”

“I know I can,” Grace acknowledged. “Thank you for not reacting too hard on the fact Jake and I are going out.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” Max muttered as he thought of whether he was going to be ready to face the future as he saw his daughter continue to grow up and face the outside world. He was suddenly happy he had the twins who were only thirteen and still years from that stage in life. He just prayed he got to know them.

“I know it isn’t,” Elizabeth smiled. “At you least you aren’t Aunt Maria and Michael. Elizabeth also has a date on Saturday night.”

“Oh god,” Max whispered.

“I know,” Grace laughed. “I don’t want to be there when they find out…” she thought of her best friend and knew her father was a pussycat compared to trying to cross Michael Guerin or his wife. She prayed Finn knew what he was getting into by wanting to go out with Elizabeth.

*

“And you waited to tell me until after your mother went out drinking, and I had dealt with your younger brothers and sister” Michael glared at his teenage daughter. Elizabeth was looking at him as if she was facing the executioner. “I sense that was the plan?”

“I had no idea Mom was going drinking with Aunt Isabel,” Elizabeth muttered as she faced her father with the dreaded news. “I had to work, and when I got home Mom was on her way out. I would have told her too if she was home.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Michael murmured. “Didn’t you want to get permission before you okayed Saturday night’s activities?”

“Daddy,” Elizabeth tried using her best face to tone down her father’s skepticism. “I knew you would say yes and really we’re going for burgers and then to the school musical, West Side Story”. It’s not like it’s anything serious or dangerous”

“West Side Story isn’t exactly Sound of Music” Michael asked.

“Come on Dad,” Elizabeth glared. “It’s not exactly earth shattering or dangerous. It’s a school production. If they had cast me in it, then I would be there on Saturday night. It’s perfectly fine material to be watching as isn’t the life story with some choice edits of Uncle Max and Aunt Liz’s love story. A more modern version of Romeo and Juliet.”

“It’s not the musical I am worried about,” Michael muttered.

“Finn is a good guy Dad. I have had my full of sketchy individuals and I am not looking for a bad boy like Mom got in you.”

“Elizabeth,” Michael muttered knowing full well his reputation when he was his daughter’s age. Max was the golden boy. He was the one who was rough around the collar. Maria took a chance on him, and it worked for the most part he mused when he thought of his actions with the Ellis punk.

“Dad,” Elizabeth batted back. “I am fifteen. I will be sixteen in June. If I can work towards getting my driver’s license than I can date.”

“That is not exactly the most reassuring sentiment there honey,” Michael asked as he saw the hope on his daughter’s face which he didn’t want to dash and knew he would have to deal with some acceptance to get through his daughter’s formative teenage years. “Fine, but we have to meet him.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Elizabeth smiled as sweetly as possible. “And I knew that, and I told him that and he’s fine with it.”

“Well, he better be,” Michael murmured as Belle came downstairs ‘Daddy’ she sang in her young voice as Michael immediately was comforted by mere fact, he had a six-year-old who took down his blood pressure from dealing with her eldest siblings. She was carrying her car toy she had. A Ferrari. At least it was a decade before he had to deal with this one driving, He mused to himself.

“Yes Belle,” Michael asked as the youngster looked up at her older sister and father.

“The wheel came off my car.”

“Let’s see,” Michael said as he took the toy and was grateful that it was something simple that he could deal with as he looked up at his eldest daughter who was too close to sixteen and too close to being out of the house “Elizabeth, all I want you to be is safe and most of all happy because I wasn’t that lucky to have the support system you have except of course Max and Isabel when I was your age. I don’t want you to be doing too much on your own”

“I promise you Dad I am trying to take on two much. Finn is a good guy, and if he’s not than I will handle him or better yet, tell you.” Elizabeth said to reassure his father.

“That is all I ask,” Michael murmured as Elizabeth headed back to the kitchen and Michael concentrated on the small project in his hands as he popped the wheel back on the car. “There you go.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Belle said as she looked up at her father with a kid’s glee and an awe that he was heartened to see because he knew how the world could be so jaded and all the kids would see it soon enough as she headed off to the kitchen with her toy.

*

“Why did we when we were younger want to settle down and have kids?” Maria asked as she took a sip of another beer while Isabel was still on her second glass of white wine. Beth was still on her first glass of vodka, but she was close to going for another.

“Because we couldn’t help but love the guys,” Isabel murmured. “We all have to grow up sometime.”

“I wish I didn’t have to grow up, nor have my kids grow up on me” Maria murmured as she looked at both Beth and Isabel, who only smiled “Why didn’t you try telling me not to, or to knock some sense into me?”

“I can’t help you there,” Beth sighed as Maria nodded. “You guys know about that time in our lives more than I do…”

“Maria, there was no stopping you from Michael” Isabel pointed out. “Even when you tried to leave, well, you ultimately ended up back with him.”

“Well I wish I had my old life back,” Maria muttered as she knew she didn’t. She liked her life. She had success on her own terms, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She loved Michael and her kids and loved the simple life she created for herself in Roswell but knew when she was younger, she wanted too much more and yet she knew she got what she was looking for, contentment and a man to love, and a man who saw her, and loved her anyways.

“No, you don’t. You love your life” Isabel reminded her friend. “We had to grow up sometime, and so do our kids, whether we like it or not and we’re not going to like it most of the time but they have us to show them the way, and hopefully we will make their journey less stressful in comparison to what we had to face.”

“Well, when it comes to my kids’ love life or education choices” Maria murmured. “I wish they would listen to me.”

“The fact Elizabeth is going out on a date is still rattling you, huh?” Isabel cracked as Beth’s eye’s perked up at the information as she couldn’t help but be amused by the fact Maria was wallowing in her drink and hating how old her kids were getting.

“Why couldn’t she give me another few months to deal with her brother’s love life,” Maria moaned. “God, why did she have to throw herself into it, why now?”

“Well she is her mother’s daughter,” Isabel reminded Maria. “You couldn’t keep your hands-off Michael when you were her age so why do you think she would be the same way now…”

“She isn’t me,” Maria muttered.

“No, she isn’t, and she’s not Michael either. She’s the perfect combination of both of you so I think you can trust her to go out on a date with Finn and see whether he is the right guy for her. It’s one date. She’s not marrying him… yet” Isabel cracked.

“Jeez Isabel, why did you have to say that” Maria muttered.

“To drive you crazy,” Isabel smiled. “Serious Maria, she’s not Grace or Jake. Something tells me she’s not looking to be serious about someone right now. One date is only one date. If your mother could get through your teen years than you can get through Elizabeth’s”

“I know,” Maria nodded.

“Elizabeth is going out on a date?” Beth asked as she saw Isabel’s delight in Maria’s misery. “How old is she?”

“Fifteen, as she will be sixteen in June” Maria smiled.

“That is young,” Beth thought as she had two thirteen years old’s who would be getting to that stage all to soon.

“Right,” Maria nodded. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t for all three of us, and especially me”

“It wasn’t,” Beth asked as she had a pretty good guess it wasn’t from all she remembered of the past, and how she had interacted with Max since they had seen each other again.

“Nope, from that moment when Max saved your life. Well you were gone for, and there was no one who would have been able to compete with him for your heart and how they tried, but still nope, which is why I don’t want that for my kids.”

“Well sorry Maria. I figure that ship has already sailed if Jake and Grace are any indications,” Isabel asked as she took a sip of her drink as she ordered a martini from the visiting waitress. “Anything for you Beth?”

“No” Beth shook her head as she checked her watch. “I think I better go check in with the girls and then go to the washroom” Beth said as she got off from the stool and headed for the bathroom while Maria and Isabel continued with their drinks.

*

“What are your plans for the summer, do you know?” Max asked Alexandra asked as they waited for the dessert menu. He had reveled in spending time with his daughters. Grace was now off talking with her grandparents about helping do their taxes which amused the twins to think someone like that kind of thing. Even Alexandra found math boring. But Grace perked up at the thought of being able to help with the Crashdown while she was on mandatory hiatus.

“We both have camp in August,” Alexandra replied. “Separate camps, both sleepaways”

“Really?” Max asked.

“Yup,” Carrie smiled. “We started last year. Alexandra likes those types of camps that are geek central.”

“Hey,” Alexandra glared, and Max laughed.

“Sorry, camps geared towards academics or science” Carrie muttered. “I like my camps catered to the arts. So, I have music camp in August this year that also dips into other forms of art. Alex has science camp, which is very boring.”

“No, is isn’t” Alexandra quipped. “It’s much more interesting to challenge the mind than play”

“Yeah sure,” Carrie murmured.

“Maybe if you have time this summer, we can get your mother to allow you two to come and visit when you don’t have to worry interrupting your education. Would you want that?” Max asked as Grace was rolling back towards the table.

“We would love that,” Alexandra and Carrie said in unison as Max smiled because that was something, he could hang on with Beth possibly going back and still be a dad to the twins. The chance to see them over the summer.

“I’ll talk it over with your mother,” Max nodded. “So, how was the big conversation?” he asked of his eldest daughter as Grace came back to the table.

“Lots of fun,” Grace said as she had a big folder on her lap. “Their accountant needs some of their records right away, and so they need to make to make sure it’s all presentable for the accountant.”

“If it keeps you busy,” Max smiled as the phone rang and Alexandra answered her cellphone, “Hello Mom” the teen smiled. “Yes, we’re at dinner with Dad. We’re having lots of fun.”

*

“Enjoy the rest of the night sweetheart,” Beth said quietly as she finished her call and walked into the bathroom and stopped in a frozen state as she saw a frightening message on the mirror, and then heard a faint whisper. “I told you to go back to Madison, and you didn’t listen to me” said the words and then she gasped when she felt a pin prick in her neck, and she started to wobble as she gasped for breath, and then she fell to the ground.

“Maybe this will get you out of town” said the individual as he turned around and left the bathroom…

*

“Do you think we scared her away?” Maria asked Isabel as they sat and drank. It had been twenty minutes and Beth hadn’t returned and now Maria wondered if she had gone home to the twins and to Max.

“I thought she was having a good time,” Isabel asked as she looked to the corner where the washrooms were located, and nothing was indicating that Beth was coming back.

“Talia,” Maria asked of the passing waitress as she wondered where Beth might have gone. “Has our friend left, did she pay her tab?”

“Nope,” Talia shook her head. “I thought she was still here, because I didn’t see her leave the bar.”

“Cool,” Maria nodded as a lull in the music as the band ended their final set song, and Isabel checked the clock. “Maybe we should look to see if she is here, as I better get home to Kyle and the kids” she aske as Talia Powers went on break and headed for the bathroom before going out for a smoke break, as Maria watched as her old friend disappear down the hall towards the bathroom.

Then there was a scream and Isabel and Maria knew instantly.

Trouble.

They grabbed their purses and phones and rushed towards the screaming and burst through the door to the women’s washroom and they found an unconscious Beth…